An unconstrained multiphase thresholding approach for image segmentation

Abstract. In this paper we provide a method to find global minimizers of certain non-convex 2-phase image segmentation problems. This is achieved by formulating a convex minimization problem whose minimizers are also minimizers of the initial non-convex segmentation problem, similar to the approach proposed by Nikolova, Esedo¯glu and Chan. The key difference to the latter model is that the new model does not involve any constraint in the convex formulation that needs to be respected when minimizing the convex functional, neither explicitly nor by an artificial penalty term. This approach is related to recent results by Chambolle. Eliminating the constraint considerably simplifies the computational difficulties, and even a straightforward gradient descent scheme leads to a reliable computation of the global minimizer. Furthermore, the model is extended to multiphase segmentation along the lines of Vese and Chan. Numerical results of the model applied to the classical piecewise constant Mumford-Shah functional for two, four and eight phase segmentation are shown.

An MBO Scheme on Graphs for Classification and Image Processing

In this paper we present a computationally efficient algorithm utilizing a fully or seminonlocal graph Laplacian for solving a wide range of learning problems in binary data classification and image processing. In their recent work [Multiscale Model. Simul., 10 (2012), pp. 1090–1118], Bertozzi and Flenner introduced a graph-based diffuse interface model utilizing the Ginzburg–Landau functional for solving problems in data classification. Here, we propose an adaptation of the classic numerical Merriman–Bence–Osher (MBO) scheme for minimizing graph-based diffuse interface functionals, like those originally proposed by Bertozzi and Flenner. We also make use of fast numerical solvers for finding eigenvalues and eigenvectors of the graph Laplacian. Various computational examples are presented to demonstrate the performance of our algorithm, which is successful on images with texture and repetitive structure due to its nonlocal nature. The results show that our method is multiple times more efficient than other well-known nonlocal models